Mike Sipple Jr’s guests this week are Danielle McCombs and Kristy Olinger. Danielle is a Commercial Real Estate Professional with 18 years experience, and Kristy is a Product Manager at Citizen, and also the founder of KO Communication. They’re the hosts of the podcast, “The Opposite of Small Talk”. Mike welcomes them to this week’s episode of the Talent Magnet Institute Podcast. This month’s theme is career management and growth and Mike, Danielle and Kristy discuss how we can use friendship and growth mindsets to manage and lead more effectively in our own companies, and improve both our career and personal developments.

Growth mindset is the idea that your effort matters. Kristy specifies that she and Danielle look at it through the lens of behaviors, a person’s willingness to be curious and to take on challenges. The growth mindset praises a person’s efforts and makes them desire to tackle challenges. [4:05]

Individuals who are growth-minded are more amenable to feedback. They’re open to viewing conflict as a positive and to dealing with challenges as opposed to running from them. [8:40]

Danielle and Kristy discuss five key tips on making and maintaining friendships. [16:47]

We need to take friendships as priorities and treat them as such as well. Friendships, like any other relationship, have to be worked on to be meaningful. [22:57]

When we realize that we don't know everything and that there's so much more to learn, we’re more inclined to meet new people and approach those new relationships with a curiosity. We want to learn more about them and what they do. This builds the foundation for a stronger friendship. [25:52]

Friendships and a growth mindset go hand-in-hand with career growth and management because building friendships is networking which is what we need to advance our careers. [26:38]

ResourcesDanielle McCombs | LinkedIn, Kristy Olinger | LinkedIn, TwitterThe Opposite of Small Talk | Apple | Google | Spotify